


Gentleman's Secrets

by Heracrocs



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Betrayal, Cheating, Death, Macbeth AU, Marriage, Murder, vengeance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-18
Updated: 2014-04-18
Packaged: 2018-01-19 21:37:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,733
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1484971
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Heracrocs/pseuds/Heracrocs
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Berwald and Natalya are just your everyday husband and wife. Or so it seems.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Gentleman's Secrets

**Author's Note:**

> I actually wrote this for my English class a while ago and I might as well post it. It was actually pretty fun to work on.

"Berwald, are you ready yet? You know the neighbours are arriving soon so why on earth are you fussing about in your study?" Natalya called to her husband. 

His muffled shout mentioned something about five more minutes but she didn't care to listen to his excuse. It seemed to her that was what he always said when the neighbours visited. She quickened her pace as she heard the gate in the fence separating the two houses open and close with an audible creak. 

"Oh dearie," she muttered to herself, straightening her dress and pausing a moment to fix her hair. 

Mr Oxenstierna must have heard the gate as well for the floor groaned under his weight. He was a large chested man, strong and charming. Some say his wife took after him, growing from a shy feeble girl he met while attending university, into a stunning woman of both beauty and strength. Some were even afraid of her, as rumours said she lifted a cabinet to reach a piece of cutlery surfaced in their community. Natalya could recall the wives telling that tale as she bought food at the market, as well as how Berwald had easily lifted her that very night when she confessed her embarrassment. Remembering how his large arms held her made her blush, gently touching her cheek as if he held it. 

The knock at the door startled Mrs Oxenstierna out of her day dreaming. She hurriedly went to the foyer and opened the large door. There stood Mr and Mrs Väinämöinen, a family much like her own. The husband, Tino Väinämöinen, worked with Berwald at the factory. Both travelled from small countries in Europe that were damaged during the war. They met on the factory floor and each climbed the corporate ladder to management. Dealing with financial business at this time had its own rewards such as the large house they lived in right now. His wife, Elise Väinämöinen, was the complete opposite of Natalya. Small in frame and voice, she was a very sweet girl. Her appearance would however fool you, as she had earned a scholarship and graduated college. Her voice may be small but she does have a lot to say when push comes to shove. She reminded Natalya of her husband’s strong will. 

"Good evening," Natalya greeted with a slight courtesy. “Please come inside. Berwald will be down shortly." 

"Thank you, Natalya. You look very lovely tonight," Mr Väinämöinen commented, gently taking a long stride into the foyer, his quiet wife elegantly gliding behind him. 

"It's good to see you again Talia, I apologize for not visiting. My mother had a slight fever and I was called to her." Mrs Väinämöinen apologized. 

"Oh don't apologize, Elise. It’s perfectly fine,” Natalya replied as she closed the door. “Is your mother doing well?"

"Quite better I should say. She has some of my homemade sour apple cider and she said it calmed her nerves and cooled the fever. She did end up drinking most of the bottle, but I don't blame her. I remember the one evening we too drank a bottle of two each," Elise laughed politely.

"Yes, ha-ha. I'm glad to hear she is doing well. If there is anything she may need, please don't hesitate to ask." Natalya said smoothly as she guided the two guests into the waiting room. 

Berwald no sooner rounded the corner and grasped Tino’s hand in a mighty shake. "Good evening, sir." He bent down and gently took Elise's hand to kiss it softly “And to you too, ma'am." 

"Good evening Mr Oxenstierna," she shyly replied with a courtesy.

A swift but strong hand patted the large back of Berwald. "Now, now. No need to be so formal, sir," Tino laughed. 

"Just what have you been up to in that study of yours to not come and answer the door for your oldest friend?"

“My, my. Aren't you the curious one? It's a surprise as a matter of fact. A gift for a special someone if you need to know. I've been working on it for over a month and I just cannot wait to show it off. Come, I'll want your opinion on it." 

Both gentlemen turned and would have went into the study for several hours of talking and arguing if it wasn't for Natalya's stern cough for their attention.

"Dinner is going to be ready very shortly, boys. I do hope you'll eat tonight. Last time me and poor Elise here had to finish half a turkey by ourselves." Both girls laughed gently as the two grown men looked at each other as if their mothers took their toys away and would not return them until they ate all of their greens and meat.

The supper was served shortly after 5:00 pm, just as the light was starting to set. Red light washed over the dining hall as the roasted pheasant steamed on the large table. Natalya picked their finest cutlery and made sure not to drop it behind the cupboard. Once everyone was seated she opened an aged bottle of wine and poured Elise and herself a tall thin glass. Being careful not to spill any, she took a delicate sip and gently set the glass back down. She thought to herself that this dinner will be fairly long and may need another bottle; the couples hadn't spent much time together in the past month. 

The side of potatoes and steamed carrots got eaten fairly quickly and by the time the two girls finished a bottle of wine, most of the pheasant had as well. Looking over at the two grown men, Natalya figured them children with their energy and movements during the discussion between them. The dinner was shortly wrapped up and the conversation moved into the show room where Berwald’s prized gentleman’s attire was displayed. Dozens of hand carved canes, monocles, and watches lined shelves all across three walls. Some of his most cherished items were 3 pairs of dueling pistols previously owned by several noblemen from his family’s homeland. 

Every time Tino visited, the two of them would talk about how it would be to actually use these weapons one day. Then they would laugh and pick up a cane each and pretend to duel each other. Several times they had picked up cane sabers Berwald had been meaning to store away in the attic. Luckily, no one got hurt except for a few lost hairs on the tops of their heads. Today, however, Berwald could not wait to show Tino what he had been making in his study. 

"Come. There's no time to waste, Tino. What I have to show may take up the next hour or two, so you ladies can occupy yourselves until then. No need to wait up, and please, Elise, feel free to stay as long as you like. Shall we?" Berwald said as he addressed Tino, pointing with an outstretched hand towards the study. 

As the two men walked away, Natalya brought another bottle of wine for her and her guest. 

"If I drink another I fear I'll be as brash as my husband. By the way love, how are things between you and your husband?" Elise asked. 

"Oh dear my sweet Elise, I think that wine has turned you into your husband already," Natalya scoffed. 

Truth be told, her and Berwald hadn't been "together" very often in the past months, unlike when they were first married. It was several years ago that Natalya could still remember his large arms wrapping around her round shoulders as he carried her to their wedding bed. 

"We have our moments together quite often,” she lied. “Every once in a while I should say.”

It had been two months since his hands had been around her waist, holding her against their mattress as her legs wrapped around his waist. 

"As I told you before, we never wanted children,” Natalya reminded Elise. “He was too busy and I... had an unhealthy youth growing up on a poor farm." 

She longed to have him to herself and to love him again. ‘The wine has started to heat not only my chest up it seems,’ she thought to herself. "And what about you darling, how are your knickers doing?" Natalya questioned as she took a sip out of the glass. 

Elise laughed lightly. “Well, I guess you could say things between us are very close indeed. Just the other day, we brought home a new basket of peaches. He asked me to make up a batch of alcohol just like my prized apple cider. Soon after I had finished, there were no knickers at all it seemed." 

Natalya took a long, slow sip as she stared the slim and charming Elise with warm eyes. She was starting to feel a little jealous until she heard her husband open the study door and walk down the hall to the kitchen. Berwald's voice called down the hallway asking where Natalya had placed the cooking oil after she finished basting the pheasant. 

"It’s in the bottom cupboard, dear, beside the red kettle," she instructed.

A loud noise of success was heard from her husband as his footsteps returned to the study. The large door closed and Natalya was left staring off into the empty doorway, wondering what Berwald would say if he returned and stood there, looking at her. Would she walk to him and ask for everyone to leave because she felt feisty? Or would he ask for more materials for his project? Another long sip was her answer. The wine cool against her warming chest as it went down her throat in a large gulp.

Shifting her gaze to Elise, she discovered her gently snoring. A quiet smile crossed her lips, thinking that must have been how she looked when she was younger. She could see just how pretty her neighbour and oldest friend was when she slept, lips soft and hair so smooth. No wonder her husband couldn't keep his hands off her.

A creak from the floor brought her attention off Elise and towards the doorway again. Another creak. 

‘Is he coming to me?’ Natalya thought anxiously. 

She hurriedly touched her blouse and shirt in case it rustled. A high pitched creak in the old wood brought her head up. Nothing was there. 

“Oh..... it must have been only my mind." 

The creak continued at an even pace yet the cause of the noise was a mystery. 

"Berwald. Berwald!" Natalya called. 

There was no reply. What was making that damn noise? Looking over she noticed Elise was still sound asleep and the noise had not disturbed her. Deciding to down the rest of her glass, Natalya stood up to find the source of this mysterious creaking. Softly stepping past the sweet wife of Tino, Natalya followed the sounds into the hallway. The creaks started to get a bit longer but still in rhythm. Creak, creak, creak. Touching the wall to better balance herself, Natalya cautiously walked down the hall, passing the small gas lanterns burning softly above her head. Aside from that, the only light in the hall came from the kitchen, at the end of it, and the small branch off of the hall to Berwald’s study.

The creaks became a bit louder as she heard the weight of something creating it. A low thump joined with the creaks as she neared the study, louder but still quiet she knocked on the door. 

"Dear....?" Natalya called softly, not wanting to disturb the men's talk. 

The door opened softly as she turned the handle and pushed. Silently, it swung open to show an empty room, Berwald's desk with documents and papers everywhere. His lamp still alight, she tentatively walked over to look out window above the desk. It had already gotten dark and all that could be seen was the large tree outside. The wind was blowing quite strong, causing the branches to knock on the wall outside of the study. The creaking and thumping continued and she quickly dismissed the smaller thumping as being the tree. Turning and looking over the room, she tried to find a sign as to where the men had gone.

Closing her eyes to imagine the source of the sound, she faintly felt a vibration in the floor. The thumping and creaking were in-time with this vibration. Slowly walking towards the feeling, she opened her eyes in front of Berwald`s bookshelf. Atlases, dictionaries, and classical pieces of literature covered almost every space on the shelves. What was most odd, however, was that the sound and vibrations came from behind this shelf. 

Looking cautiously around the large wooden frame, she could not find any evidence of something behind it. She pushed it a bit, causing it to move slightly on what she assumed were hidden wheels. Curiously, she grasped it and pushed the case over a few inches. Light blinded her as the shelf moved from a dark corner behind it to reveal a narrow slit in the wall, looking into a bright room. Waiting for her eyes to adjust to the light, Natalya focused into view a small room that seemed to be situated under the house’s staircase leading to the second floor.

Having moved the shelf out of the way, the sounds from within could be heard clearly. The shadows danced behind the figures as they produced the noise that echoed through the house. Natalya’s eyes widened as she realized what was transpiring. Her husband’s large, strong back was towards her while his front was facing Tino’s slender but muscled back. The creaks continued as her peering eyes stared at the men as they pushed close together in an embrace. Her breathing quickened and her heart beat hard in her chest. 

She quickly closed the secret entrance and walked out of the study, holding her chest tightly. Closing the door, she heavily leaned back onto it, taking deep breaths. The creaking and thumping continued as if nothing happened. As if she never had seen such a sight. Several questions raced through her head at once; how? Why? Since when had this happened? Had she done something to dissatisfy him? Was it because she was getting older? Was it because he had drunk too much? Was it because Tino had talked him into it? Did Elise know? Did they plan it? She shook her head and took a deep breath. ‘You must calm down, Talia,’ she told herself. ‘I have to think this through. I need to think clearly.’

Natalya took several deep breaths and a few steps away from the study door. Looking down the hallway, she could see herself standing at the door, leaving to buy groceries just as Tino would arrive for a glass of scotch and to talk about the recent news in the country. She saw herself smile and wave goodbye as she closed the door and left. She then imagined the two men holding each other as if it were her and her husband. How many times had she left the house or had even been in it while these married men bedded one another?!

Before realizing it, she was pulling at the roots of her hair and hot tears were running down her face. She took a moment to look at the few strands of hair caught under her nails before brushing them away and standing up. Wiping away the tears and taking a few deep and fast breaths, she tried working up the courage to think. He was the reason Berwald had not held or kissed her in such a long time. It was him that was taking his attention, his love, and their marriage away. Berwald was always thought of as a loving man, but she never dreamed him to be that loving, let alone to another man. She needed Tino out of their house, out of their marriage, and out of her life.

Elise. She must have known about how frequent her husband visited and what they were up to.  
‘He must have asked her to play me as a fool so that he would have time for Berwald,’ Natalya reasoned to herself without hesitating. 

Her thoughts of all three of them swam in her head so deep that she couldn't distinguish one from the other. Deep in thought, she hadn't realized she was standing over the sleeping Elise; hadn't realized the cane in her hand from the wall rack across the room. She looked down and saw a pale, beautiful girl who played her for a fool and let her husband steal her own. The girl's head was gently leaning back and a delicate rise of her chest was all that was moving. Softly breathing, softly asleep.

‘She will look just as pretty in time where as I will be just as ugly,’ Natalya hissed in her mind. ‘Her husband will love her beauty and hold her, where mine will cringe and hold your handsome husband instead of me.’

She closed her eyes and gently swayed on her feet. She felt like someone was holding her. Warmth spread over her hands and to her chest, traveling up her neck. Light pecks across her cheeks warmed her heart as if someone was dancing and kissing her. Opening her eyes slowly, Natalya felt calm and clear as if the warmth of a fire had cleansed her of the cold hatred towards the other people in her house. She was standing in the hall now, dimly lit as the candles had burned low. Shadows danced and she could still hear the scraping of the tree against the window outside.

The sound of the tree grew louder as she drew closer to the study. The cane felt lighter and warm in her hand, yet oddly heavy and cold. Natalya couldn't think for herself. She moved and felt as if someone else who knew what to do and she was scared. She was afraid of what her life would be without her beloved Berwald. A cold chill ran through her chest. Eyes wide with shock, she stood before the hidden door in the study. 

What am I going to do? I can't move. I can't think. I don't want to see them. 

Natalya closed her eyes and took a breath. She made her way over to the large desk, cluttered with papers, and set the cane on it. She vaguely recalls the shaft of the cane to be a dark brown and not red, and wood instead of steel. 

"Curious," she observed quietly to herself. 

Waving the change of canes away, she picked up the sturdy chair Berwald had sitting at the desk and carried it over to the door. She could recall the day he came home with it, but she would rather not. She was in no mood to think of, to remember, the man she married. Gently sliding the door to the sealed room closed as to not alert the men, she propped the chair against the door. Using the floor, she pushed the chair so the door could not be opened. Taking a few steps back she brought her hands to her face and cried. Hot tears fell down her face and across her fingers, continuing down her wrists. More images of all the smiles shared, kisses given, months and years together crashing down on her at once. 

‘What am I going to do?’ She yelled inside her head for no one to hear.

She dropped to the floor as her legs gave out. The sudden drop caused a large thump, and she hoped to god her heart had left her. Anything to stop the anguish she felt and to drive the voices of the past from her mind. Natalya quietly sobbed to her pathetic self and waited for something to happen. The only sound that could be heard was the loud scratching of the tree outside, the wind still blowing. Using the sleeve of her dress, she dabbed away slowly at her tears and wet cheeks.

“I..... I need a drink,” she somberly said to herself. “I want to stop. I need to stop.”

She silently stood up and took a quick glance out the window. The light had faded and the tree had blended into the night. Taking a few soft steps towards the door, she stopped and turned back to look at the desk and cane. The red of the metal had dripped down onto the papers. 

‘Funny,’ she thought. I've never seen wood do that. Berwald will be upset in the morning.’

She took a few quick steps into the hall and headed towards the kitchen. Entering into the dimly lit room, she immediately went to the cupboard. Taking the largest crystal glass that the Oxenstiernas owned, a dowry from her father, she sat at the small square table where the only candle still shone. The wine bottle still sat there from when she had poured drinks for her and Elise. One bottle of the three the girls had brought up from the cellar that night. Silent as a ghost of herself, she slumped into the chair at the small table. Without hesitating, she took the cork stop out of the bottle's neck and emptied the last half of it. Taking a sip she breathed out a heavy sigh.

Drained of emotion, thought, and life, she felt oddly calm. The house was quiet, the wind barely audible through the thick walls in the kitchen and too far down the hall to disturb Natalya's silent death inside herself. She thought herself gone, yet still there. She took a long sip. The wine warmed her chest and cheeks but she only felt the heat inside her mind as more and more images flashed in her mind. A smile, a kiss, and a laugh. She smiled and tried to remember the last time those were shared between the man she loved and lived for.

The light of the candle brought her to the night of their marriage. She had felt the heat in her chest, not for alcoholic reasons but reasons of a woman. She imagined Berwald over her with his strong arms holding her as the night drew on. The imagined Berwald disappeared as she felt herself turn over. The heat continued but soon faded as she felt drawn away from her body. She looked back and saw her now married husband moving back and forth. A smile came across the newly married wife's lips but soon disappeared when she gazed at where she should have been. Instead it was a strong backed figure. A thin waist and hairy limbed figure had taken the wife's spot in bed. Natalya had felt replaced in love, and in life. The normally greased back hair had changed to that in tatters as Tino Väinämöinen raised his head and looked her straight in the eyes and smiled. Heat grew from her stomach in waves as if she was about to sprout molten rock from inside.

Eyes flying open, she lurched forward and released this built up magma. Coughing the last bits of the rock out, she realized, with disappointment, that it had not been magma. She would have given anything to feel warm and safe. 

‘I must have dozed off,’ Natalya assumed.

The crystal glass was empty and so was the bottle and a half that was in the kitchen. Standing up and walking over to the sink, she grabbed a towel and filled a bowl with water. Dipping the cloth into the cold water, Natalya began to clean the up-chuck off of her lips and chin all the way down her chest. Noticing the strange red on her forearms and hands, she rubbed the cloth over them. 

‘Stupid wine. Now you even stain my skin,’ she spat in her head.

Oddly enough, she felt bad for saying something negative about the one thing she can rely on at the moment. She looked back at the table only to find it covered in red vomit and the two bottles on their sides. Across the room from the table was a closed door leading to the wine cellar. Staring blankly for a few moments, Natalya decided to be the fool she was presumed to be and seek comfort in a poor man’s choice. The few steps between the sink and cellar door were enough to give her another bout of heat in her chest and stomach. Her head swam with light and dark movement, forcing her to reach out to the wall for balance. She leaned for a long time, waiting for the waves to subside both in her torso and mind. The dark soon disappeared and the light stopped moving, now only fixated on the candle on the small table. She pushed off the wall, but kept a hand outstretched to hold herself upright. The door's handle turned with a creak but opened easily even to the intoxicated woman.

Dark stairs lurked on the other side of the doorway. Even without the aid of the light, Natalya could maneuver herself down these steps as she had hundreds of times before. She knew how many steps there were to the bottom, how many newly acquired bottles of wine were stored and where the older, stronger ones were stored also. 

"One step at a time," she muttered to herself, taking a step down and into shadow. Another step and her silhouette was all that could be seen. Another step and that was gone. The candle glowed in the corner but could not reach past the doorframe down to the cellar where Natalya had ventured. The tree struck the house outside the study as it did the hours before. The sound of the scraping could be heard through the house. Dull thumps could be heard from the front door from time to time. No one could answer. The night passes in relative silence, except for the howling of the wind. Day broke and shone through the little windows facing the street. The weather had cleared but still hung grey as if someone was mourning. 

_News Report:_  
April 13, 1903.  
The bodies of two young women and two men have been discovered inside the residence of Mr.  & Mrs. Oxenstierna. During one of his weekly deliveries, Mr. Francis Bonnefoy was not greeted at the door like other days. He says that Mrs. Oxenstierna would always greet him before he even knocked and thank him for the delivery before paying him.

-"Today was very odd,” Mr. Bonnefoy tells us. “I stood there for several minutes, waiting for someone to show at the door. After a while of no response, I walked around to the side of the house to peer into the window. I looked around the dim room inside until I spotted someone who looked like the Oxenstierna’s neighbour, Mrs. Elise Väinämöinen. However, she didn’t look too well. She seemed pale with a hint of something red splotched on her skin. She didn’t seem to be moving at all either. Shocked and frightened, I backed away from the window, tripping over a branch and falling in my state. Soon after, I went to the police to report what I had experienced.”  
-“The scene was truly horrifying,” police officer Arthur Kirkland confides. “When we entered the house, something automatically seemed off. We discovered first the body of Elise Väinämöinen. She was bloody and looked like she had been beaten to her death. We then set off to find the others that were missing. We found empty wine bottles scattered around the kitchen and faint drips of wine leading to the cellar door. We followed the trail and sure enough, we discovered the next body, that of Natalya Oxenstierna. The sight was gruesome. It looked as though she had fallen down the stairs and cracked her head open. We’re thinking alcohol was a factor. We continued searching. After a while, we found a hidden room within the study. The bodies of Berwald Oxenstierna and Tino Väinämöinen were discovered inside. Their deaths seemed to have been caused by suffocation and there were signs of struggle on the door. As I said, this case is very horrifying and we currently have our top investigators looking for more clues."

What a truly odd and terrifying thing to happen in our small and peaceful little town. __


End file.
